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1994-05-15
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6KB
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120 lines
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(April 26, 1994)
Steve Fleischer
908-306-7539
Glenn Jasper/Maria Papa
212-697-5600
WMATA/Patricia Lambe
202-962-1051
BELL ATLANTIC MOBILE AND WASHINGTON METRO
LAUNCH FIRST U.S. CELLULAR SUBWAY SERVICE
WASHINGTON, DC, JOINS HONG KONG IN PROVIDING
UNDERGROUND CELLULAR
Washington, D.C. -- From the peak of the Washington Monument to 115
feet below street level, Washingtonians and tourists alike can talk with
each other using cellular phones.
For the first time in U.S. history, riders on an American subway
system will be able to use cellular phones to place and receive calls
several stories below street level, thanks to a joint effort between Bell
Atlantic Mobile (BAM) and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation
Authority (WMATA).
Beginning today, with the expansion of BAM's cellular service into
the subway, Metrorail passengers in Washington, D.C., will be the first
American commuters to have access to cellular phone use in underground
stations and while riding the train.
"Critics charged that early cellular systems prevented true anytime,
anywhere commu- nications because calls couldn't reach inside skyscrapers
or to cars moving through tunnel, said President and CEO of Bell Atlantic
Mobile Dennis F. Strigl. But the expansion of BAMs cellular system into
the subway means Americans don't have to wait for the allocation of new
radio spectrum to get these services. That's because cellular carriers
are tapping the power of the nations cellular infrastructure to bring real
personal communications services to the market today.
Currently, Hong Kong is the only other city in the world in which
people in an underground subway system can place and receive cellular
calls. Even major subway systems like Germany's U-Bahn and the Paris
Metro don't have this service.
This project represents the local marriage of the two fields that
will determine our nation's future, transportation and telecommunications
said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Federico Pena. "Our ability to move
people and information efficiently must keep pace with technology if we
are going to maintain our competitive edge.
By early next year the average 500,000 daily Metrorail riders will
have access to cellular phone coverage in 48 stations and nearly 55 miles
of subway track.
The cellular service will use a series of "microcells, small radio
transmitters placed in underground stations, plus a network of antennas
provided by Cleveland-based Allen Telecom Group and placed in the tunnels,
to carry signals through the subway system. The "microcell" technology
that enables this kind of cellular coverage is easily adaptable for
deployment in other American cities with underground subways, such as
Chicago, New York and San Francisco.
"Nothing gets people around Washington more quickly and conveniently
than Metro, and nothing gets their messages across faster than their
cellular phones," said Lawrence G. Reuter, general manager of WMATA.
"Bell Atlantic Mobile has put the information superhighway on the fast
track."
WMATAs initial underground service is available in the six stations
linking the Orange Line's Metro Center and Court House stops, and from
Metro Center to Rosslyn on the Blue Line, covering more than three and a
half subway miles.
17 additional underground stations are scheduled to have cellular
service by April 1995; from Gallery Place to Crystal City on the Yellow
Line; from Union Station to Dupont Circle on the Red Line; and from
Capital South to Crystal City on the Blue Line, covering a total of
approximately 16 subway miles.
Bell Atlantic Mobile already provides cellular service at 25
above-ground stations covering more than 38 additional miles, as well as
in Amtrak's Union Station.
"Our customers have expressed a distinct need to communicate when
they travel, regardless of their mode of transportation," said Bob
Johnson, regional vice president of Bell Atlantic Mobile. "As a result of
this pioneering effort, customers will benefit from increased
productivity, convenience and security--allowing them to keep in touch
with family, business associates, or whomever they need to reach."
Metrorail and its riders will also benefit from enhanced fire,
police, and emergency communications, which are being delivered to
participating jurisdictions through the special antenna system provided by
Bell Atlantic Mobile. Arlington County (Va.) is the first local
government to sign on to the new emergency communications service.
WMATA and Bell Atlantic Mobile anticipate expansion of cellular
service in and between underground stations on the Red and Green Lines in
1995.
The Washington Metrorail System is considered the premier subway
system in the United States and logs more than a half-million trips daily.
Bell Atlantic's global wireless communications business in the United
States, Mexico, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia serve
markets with a total population of 132 million. The company's owned POPS
in those markets total 65 million.
Bell Atlantic Mobile is the largest cellular carrier on the East
Coast and one of the fastest growing cellular carriers in North America,
serving more than one million customers in Washington, DC, and 15 states
in New England, the mid-Atlantic, the Carolinas, and the Southwest.
Bell Atlantic Mobile provides wireless voice, data, and paging services. Headquar-
tered in Bedminster, NJ, the company is a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Bell Atlantic
Corporation.